…….. “Sorry Mo! Needs must! Now, where was I?”
“In the Brighton Dome! Hasn’t it been an entertainment venue for a couple of hundred years?”
“Yes, amazing really. Seemingly the Prince of Wales, later King George IV, wanted a bigger and better stable block for his horses and commissioned the building of the Brighton Dome. It took five years and £54,000, a small fortune by the time it was finished in 1808. Over its lifetime it’s been riding stables, a place of protest and solidarity for the Suffragettes, a World War One dance hall, a temporary hospital in World War Two and even a roller skating rink. Today, inter alia, it’s the organisational hub of the annual Brighton Festival in May.”
“Great place to have in the city, especially with that history! What else’s being going on?”
“I know you read most of my scribbles so you may recall in PC 328, ‘Random, Fate and Consequences’, I wrote that ‘He who hesitates is lost’ is one of the Christian Proverbs – Proverbs 3 Verse 2.’.”
“Yeah, I really enjoyed that PC and have thought about buying one of those Ottolenghi pieces of pottery.”
“Celina and I have kept in touch with a Dianne & Tim Tinnes from San Francisco, with whom we shared canoes during our Pantanal trip in 2014 (See PC 20). Tim reads my postcards and occasionally comments. He couldn’t find Proverbs 3 and additionally asked: “Why say Christian when there is no Christian ie New Testament bible book called Proverbs!” I live and learn!
Off to find a sandbank to have breakfast on, in the River Negro
Firstly in my mind I think of the Bible as a complete book, both Old (OT) and New Testaments ….. but now see the error of my labelling, as the New Testament is the only Christian part. I live and learn! I told him I had Googled ‘He who hesitates ……’, got Proverbs 3/2 and assumed it referred to the Book of Proverbs in the OT. This morning I lifted one of my physical books of reference, The Dictionary of Quotations and Proverbs, off the shelf and looked up ‘He who hesitates …..’. No ‘proverb’ exists!”
“Oooh!” says Mo, “that’s going to be on my ‘To Do’ list this week, to find out more.”
Out of the corner of my eye I notice Sami coming through the door, and lift my arm in recognition. He comes over and I introduce him to Mo.
“Where’s Lisa this week Sami?’
“Ah! She gone back to Derbyshire for a few days; think she had an important assignment to complete and she didn’t need me as a distraction! I read your postcard about the Year of the Rabbit (PC 331) and that encouraged me to watch David Attenborough’s Wild Isles programme, but I’ve only seen the first two episodes.”
“So you haven’t seen what I call ‘The Trojan Horse’ episode?”
“Not yet! Tell me …..”says Sami and Mo cries: “Yes please!”
“An absolutely fascinating story concerning the early life of the Large Blue butterfly. It became extinct in Britain in 1979, largely as a result of the huge decrease in the rabbit population due to Myxomatosis which changed its habitat; a great example of the co-dependences across the natural world. Now through careful land management it’s making a comeback. I am no lepidopterist but this tale could easily have been the instigator for the Wooden Horse at the gates of Troy! Let me explain.
The eggs of the Large Blue are often laid on plants such as Wild Thyme and fall down to soil level as they develop into little caterpillars. Along comes the Red Ant, which just loves eating caterpillars; in the TV series this needs some very dramatic background music!! Knowledge is key and the Large Blue caterpillar secretes some honey dew onto its back, inflates its body and as the air escapes, the sound is like the distress call of a Queen Red ant. The Red worker ant instinctively pulls the caterpillar into the safety of its nest (cf The Trojan Horse?) where, over a six month period, the caterpillar eats all the ant larvae and grows to be one hundred times its original size!
The butterfly emerges ….
The larva develops into a chrysalis from whence eventually the Large Blue butterfly emerges. Wildlife programmes rely on great photography and patience, a good commentary and appropriate music. Turn off the audio and you might imagine you are watching something very different. However in this particular case, just so believable and utterly Trojan Horse-ish!”
“That is unbelievable! Good old Mother Nature. By the way” says Sami “have you been to The Salt Room on Kingsway? Lisa and I are thinking of going but it’s got mixed reviews.”
“That’s always the case; everyone’s expectations are different, don’t you think? Funnily enough I went on a Sunday evening a couple of weeks ago, as a guest of someone who had been to the Goodwood Revival.”
“And was it good?”
“Well, one starter caught my eye: ‘Wild Argentinian Red Prawns – cooked over coal, with Pil Pil sauce and Chive Oil (Price per prawn £3!)’. Being a guest I got a bit stuck when the waiter asked: ‘How many would you like, sir?’ I had no idea what size an Argentinian Red Prawn was, so was 2 too much or should I ask for 3 or 4? Decided to play safe and instead ordered the ‘coal-roasted scallops with chorizo crumb, coral beurre blanc and purple basil’, which were delicious.
The uncertainty about the number of prawns reminded me of going to a fish restaurant in Tavistock Street, just up from The Strand in central London. I ordered ‘Grilled Sardines on a bed of blah blah’. When my plate arrived I was slightly surprised to find ONE, just effing ONE.’ (note 1)”
Mo and Sami laughed out loud and we settled in for more inconsequential chat …… until Libby came over and suggested we play our part in reducing the loneliness of others!
Richard 5th May 2023
Hove
PS In some television programme that was inadvertently on one evening, an English woman was trying to identify Romania. “It’s near Turkey inn’t? No! No! That’s not right; Turkey’s in Africa.” God help us all!
Note 1 I wrote and complained …. and got a free meal a month later!
postcards 